2022 NHL Draft Lottery Primer for Flyers Fans

The National Hockey League will hold its 2022 Entry Draft Lottery on Tuesday for the 16 teams that did not qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. By virtue of finishing 29th in the 32-team league, the Flyers enter the lottery with the fourth highest odds of winning the first overall pick of the Draft.

There is an additional lottery drawing for the 2nd overall pick of the Draft but this year there will no longer be a drawing for the 3rd selection. Additionally, no team in the lottery can move up more than 10 spots in the final Draft order. As such, the Flyers can only pick first, second, fourth, fifth or sixth. They cannot get the No. 3 spot or anything lower than sixth.

First Overall Pick (9.5% chance)

The Flyers have a 9.5 percent chance to win the first overall pick via the Draft Lottery. Regardless of which team comes away with the first pick, Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) center Shane Wright is widely expected to be chosen with the top selection come the start of the Entry Draft on July 7.

In franchise history, the Flyers have only held the first overall pick of the Entry Draft one time. In 1975, days after winning their second straight Stanley Cup championship, the Flyers traded Bill Clement to the Washington Capitals in exchange for the first overall selection of that year's draft. The Flyers used the pick on rugged forward Mel Bridgman.

More famously, however, after 1991 first overall selection Eric Lindros refused to play for the Quebec Nordiques, a year-long stalemate between the two sides ended with the Nordiques trading Lindros' rights to the Flyers and then changing their minds with a handshake deal in place and making a Draft-floor trade instead with the New York Rangers. An independent arbitrator subsequently awarded the 19-year-old center's rights to Philadelphia.

Second Overall Pick (9.8% chance, subject to change)

As of right now, the Flyers have a 9.8 percent chance of drawing the second overall selection of the 2022 Entry Draft. These odds could change on a proportional basis depending on which club receives the first overall pick.

Unlike the first overall selection, there is less consensus about which prospect will ultimately be taken second overall. Many projections have the likes of Slovakian winger Juraj Slafkovsky (who played in Finland this season for Liga club TPS Turku), US National Team Development Program (USHL) center Logan Cooley. Finnish sniper Joakim Kemell (JYP, Liga), Czech defenseman David Jiricek (HC Plzen, Czech Extraliga) or Slovakian defenseman Simon Nemec (HK Nitra, Slovakian Extraliga) having inside tracks to get selected anywhere from second overall to elsewhere within the top five or six.

In 2017, the Flyers moved in the Draft Lottery from the default 13th spot to second overall. The club selected thus-far ill-fated center Nolan Patrick of the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings with the pick.

Fourth Overall Pick (currently 15.4% chance)

There is a 15.4 percent chance that the Flyers wind up staying put after the Draft Lottery and coming away with their current default spot of fourth overall.

How could the Flyers stay at fourth overall? If any combination of the Montreal Canadiens (18.5 percent chance of the first overall pick), Arizona Coyotes (13.5 percent chance of the No. 1 overall selection) and Seattle Kraken (11.5%) wind up with the top three picks of the Draft, the Flyers would stay at 4th overall.

Likewise, even if the Vancouver Canucks or Vegas Golden Knight win the right via the Draft Lottery to move up the maximum 10 slots in the Entry Draft order, the Flyers would still hold the fourth overall pick, ahead of either team.

In 1990, the Flyers chose Peterborough Petes (OHL) center Mike Ricci with the fourth overall pick of the first round after general manager Russ Farwell was unable to move up to take center Petr Nedved (whom he knew well from their time together with the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds). One spot later, the Pittsburgh Penguins selected Jaromir Jagr.

One night before the 2002 Entry Draft, the Flyers made a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning to move up to the fourth overall spot in the first round. Philadelphia selected Finnish defenseman Joni Pitkänen (Kärpät Oulu, SM-liiga) with the pick.

Fifth overall pick (44.9% chance)

The Flyers will drop one spot and get the fifth overall pick in the final Entry Draft selection order if any one of the following teams earns either the first or second overall selection via the lottery: New Jersey Devils, Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks.

The Flyers would also drop one spot if the Columbus Blue Jackets who cannot get the first overall pick) move up to the second or third overall spot, the New York Islanders get the third or fourth overall spot or the Winnipeg Jets get the fourth overall selection.

In franchise history, the Flyers have never held the fifth overall pick.

Sixth overall pick (20.5 percent chance)

This is as low as the Flyers could drop in the final Draft order. If two of the teams listed in the scenario directly above -- in other words two of the teams currently holding default spots lower than Philadelphia's -- are lucky enough to move into spots that would push the Flyers down to the sixth overall pick.

In 1991, the Flyers "went off the board" to select Swedish center Peter Forsberg (MoDo Hockey, Elitserien) with the sixth overall pick. Most mock drafts projected Forsberg as a late first round selection to early 2nd rounder. The Hockey News ranked Forsberg at 25th overall, one spot behind Springfield Olympics (NEJHL) left winger Mike Pomichter.
Back in 1978, the Flyers owned the sixth and seventh overall picks of the first round; the former acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins that sent Orest Kindrachuk, Ross Lonsberry and Tom Bladon to Pittsburgh and the latter acquired from the New York Rangers to settle a tampering claim involving the Rangers hiring Fred Shero as their new coach and general manager while still employed as the Flyers' head coach. With the back-to-back picks, the Flyers selected rugged defenseman Behn Wilson and feisty playmaking center Ken Linseman.